FORSYTH, Ga. — According to the Giffords Law Center, 2.6 million minors in the U.S. live in homes with at least one loaded and unsecured firearm. For the two children in Forsyth, this was true.
But Monroe County Sheriff's Cpt. Eric Davis says the parents of the 12-year-old and seven-year-old will not be charged in the case where the boy got ahold of a loaded handgun.
According to the incident report, the siblings were in the garage where the guns were. The guns were on top of the refrigerator in the garage.
The boy climbed on top of the fridge to grab his toy gun but grabbed the real one instead. They were right next to each other.
"It was actually stored in a pretty good place. There were a couple of mistakes," Davis said.
The boy accidentally shot his sister in the shoulder, the report says.
Oftentimes, Davis says it can be difficult to tell the difference between a real firearm and a toy gun.
"Unfortunately, they make airsoft guns nowadays that look almost identical to the untrained eye," Davis said.
Georgia law doesn't require gun owners to store their firearms. However, law enforcement and gun experts highly encourage registered gun owners to store them.
Safekids.org recommends storing an unloaded gun in a locked container and out of reach and sight of children.
The difference between an airsoft gun and a real gun is, that a real gun has a slide lock on it and an airsoft gun does not. Davis says, when it comes to gun safety in the home, have an open discussion with your children.
"Make sure you talk to them about gun safety. Treat every gun as if it were a loaded firearm. It's not a good idea to point the gun at someone and pull the trigger," Davis said.
But Davis said that law did not apply to this case.
You can find more information about safe gun storage here.